


Best Laid Plans

by Shabby Abby (KJPearl)



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Modern Era, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 11:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17559131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KJPearl/pseuds/Shabby%20Abby
Summary: Observation can tell Echo and Grand are in love, so why do they say they aren't dating when he asks?





	Best Laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skiaphilia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skiaphilia/gifts).



> For the prompt: I'd love to see something where everybody else knows that Echo and Grand are dating but the two of them... the more In Love they are and the more Exasperated everyone else is the better (I left the characters open, so pick whoever works best!). Canon or AU is fine, would like them to end up together Officially.

Observation had seen them visit The Steady what felt like a million times, both together and separately. By this point the two were regulars who Observation had gotten to know fairly well, so he wasn’t sure why his question about how long they’d been dating had ended up with Echo laughing in his face.

“Sorry, sorry,” he raised his hands in surrender, “I get if you two are like private about it, or whatever. I don’t want to be rude.” 

“We’re not dating,” Echo said. Grand nodded, looking vaguely constipated, though that wasn’t so unusual for him.

“Dude, don’t mess with me like that, I’ve seen you guys here for ages. You can just tell me if I’m bothering you. You don’t need to lie to my face.”

“They're not lying, Observation,” Grand said, “We’re just friends.”

Observation looked back and forth between the two of them, dumbstruck.

“Are you for real, right now?”

“Yes,” Echo seemed entirely honest.

Observation made his way back to the kitchen, trying to process what he’d just learnt. Echo and Grand were so clearly a couple, they just hadn’t noticed it yet. Observation would make it his mission to fix that.

*

That night he was closing up with Demani, his good friend and one of the owners of The Steady.

“So you know Grand and Echo, right?” he began as he wiped down the espresso machine.

“Yeah.”

“And how they’re dating, right?”

“Yeah, it’s hard to miss when they come here every Friday night to stare passionately into each other's eyes while fighting over nonsense,” she snorted.

“Well that’s the thing!” Observation exclaimed, “Because I spoke to them today and they said, and I quote, ‘we’re just friends.’” 

“No way,” Demani stopped, chair halfway to the table she was stacking it on, to stare at him incredulously.

“Yeah. I swear. I couldn’t believe it either.”

“I mean I can get Grand not realising, that guy has never been the smartest with emotions, remember when he asked Signet how she and Belgard kept their friendship so strong.”

“Yeah,” Observation laughed, “how could I forget. They’re literally married. They wear the rings and live together and everything.”

“But you’d think Echo at least would notice. They’re more...emotionally aware, and they told me last week Grand asked them to teach him sword fighting. Grand-Fighting-Is-Beneath-Me-Magnificent, wants to learn how to use a sword.”

“More like wants to see Echo all sweaty, and get to have them around correcting his posture,” Observation chuckled, “I wouldn’t say no to that either.”

“I thought you liked Grand and Echo as a couple.”

“I do! That doesn't mean I don’t notice Echo’s whole situation,” Observation waved his hands to indicate the indescribable hotness that was Echo Reverie, “They’re our objectively most attractive customer. I’ve seen like ten people just walk up to their table offer Echo their numbers. I just always figured they refused because of Grand. Speaking of which, Grand makes the most extremely jealous boyfriend glare at those people. Because he’s clearly in love with Echo!”

“You seem very invested in all this,” Demani raised a judgemental eyebrow.

“Demani, they're perfect for each other. I just need to make them realize it.”

“Okay. Just don’t do anything stupid, Observation.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got a plan.”

“Somehow that doesn't reassure me.”

*

It was the next week on a slow day that he decided to bring their drinks, a caramel latte for Grand and black coffee for Echo, over to their table to begin implementing his plan.

“So Grand, what’s your type?” Observation leaned into Grand’s personal space, beginning phase one of plan make Echo jealous enough to realize their feelings.

“Um,” Grand gulped, “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious, now that I know you’re not taken,” Observation winked.

“Um, well, that's very flattering, but I’m afraid you're not quite…” he trailed off, eye darting over to Echo. Out of the corner of his eye Observation noticed Echo’s hands relaxing from where they had been clenched into fists on the table.

“Aw, well,” Observation tried to school his face into appropriate disappointment, “Never hurts to ask. Where do I fall short?”

“There’s nothing wrong with you Observation,” Grand hurried to reassure him, “I’m sure there are plenty of people who would be happy to date you. I just, um, prefer them a bit more muscular.”

Grands eyes darted over to Echo’s arms, toned and on full display beneath their tank top. He was so obvious, if Echo hadn’t been too busy glaring daggers at Observation they might have even noticed. Observation went back to the counter with a deep sigh. This might be more work than he’d expected.

*

“It’s pretty funny,” Even chuckled, “Cascabel and I have been inviting them on double dates almost a year now to see how long it would take them to notice. They still haven't.”

“You’re kidding me,” Observation nearly ran his hands through his hair in frustration but caught himself before he could ruin the carefully gelled mess he had spent ages on that morning.

“I wish I was. Those two just refuse to see it. It’s nerves . Neither of them is willing to admit their feelings to themselves, let alone each other just yet. You just need to be patient with them.”

“I’ve been patient with them! They’ve been coming here years all cutesy coupely and just now I find out they think they’re friends? Friends! In what universe do friends fight with that much sexual tension?”

*

“Echo,” Grand whined.

“Grand,” Echo responded with the joking but kind voice Observation only heard them use when Grand was being ridiculous.

“This is a travesty! Arbit is clearly a work of art, worthy of display at The Memorious Gallery, and the curator called it an ‘interesting little robot’.”

“Well she’s not wrong. It is interesting, little, and a robot,” Echo said. Big mistake, Grand’s face fell entirely at their declaration, and he refused to make eye contact with Echo as he took a long sip of his latte.

“I didn’t mean-” Echo began.

“I think you’ve made your meaning pretty clear, Echo,” Grand didn’t sound pissed off so much as hurt.

“Robotics is art,” Echo defended, “it’s creative work with the power to evoke emotions. The curator's an idiot if she doesn't know that!”

“Since when do you know so much about art,” Grand was still pouting but at least he’d started looking Echo in the eyes, somewhat mollified.

“We’ll, there's someone I care about who never seems to shut up about it,” Echo reached across the table and took Grand’s hand. Grand smiled back at them. Observation was ready to tear his hair out. How could two people be so oblivious. There they were, sitting and holding hands, leaning over the tiny table close enough to kiss and they thought they were friends. Observation headed to the back to start taking inventory before he could do something stupid like walk over and smack their faces together.

*

“Signet, how do you make people realise they've been secretly in love with each other for ages?” Observation asked.

Signet raised an eyebrow from her place at the counter. She took a slow sip of her london fog.

“What’s this about?” Signet asked.

“Grand and Echo, you’re friends with them, right? I just found out they’re not dating.”

“They’re a tricky pair,” Signet chuckled,”They may just need some time.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what Even said and I tried, but I can’t give them any more time. I’m losing my mind here Signet. They come here every week and buy each other drinks and flirt and it's literally a date. I can't handle any more of this.”

“You’re exaggerating, but I do catch your drift. It would be nice to see Echo and Grand finally realize their feelings. I would suggest injecting a little romance into their lives, help them see each other in a different way. That’s what helped me and Belgarde realize we were more than just friends.”

*

Observation wasn’t sure what Signet had menat with her cryptic advice but hopefully some romantic music would do the trick. This Friday he decided to switch the cafe’s music to something other than its usual lo-fi hip hop. He also set up roses on a bunch of the tables. Hopefully that would help ”inject a little romance.”

Echo seemed to notice the change as soon as they walked in and simply decided not to acknowledge it. Grand took a bit longer, it was only after Observation gave him his coffee and he scanned the room for an empty table that he asked, “Why are there flowers? Did I forget Valentines day again?”

Echo snorted.

“You can’t blame me for losing track of all these holidays people make-up,” Grand said, “I’m busy with my art!”

“Grand, it’s August,” Echo rolled their eyes, “Valentines is in February.”

“Oh. But then, why are there flowers, Observation?”

“No reason, I just wanted to brighten the place up a it,” Observation said.

“You know roses, aren’t really the best choice for that. Daffodils, sunflowers, the yellows really brighten the place. Red roses are- Ow! Echo why did you kick me?”

Echo scowled, “Grand you’re being kinda rude.”

“Oh, I didn’t think- Sorry, Observation. The roses are very nice.”

“No worries man. I’ll keep yellow in mind for next time.”

Observation didn’t see them kiss or overhear any declarations of love, but he did notice a rose tucked behind Echo’s ear when they left. He’d count that as a step in the right direction.

*

“Me and Fourteen started dating after I went to one of their shows,” Tender suggested after Observation recounted his struggle to give Grand and Echo an ounce of self awareness.

“A show?” Observation frowned, thinking of the rather quiet lawyer.

“Yeah,” Tender smiled, eyes softening at just the thought of her partner, “That was a while back, they used to be a singer.”

“That sounds sweet and all, but neither Echo or Grand sing, at least not that I know of. Except… maybe Echo could go to one of Grand’s art shows.”

“Oh no!” Tender yelled, drawing the attention of the whole cafe. Her ears drew down in embarrassment, “Sorry, but that's definitely not going to work. Echo goes to Grand's shows already and they mostly just end in huge fights.”

“Well, I guess I could just say I had concert tickets I couldn’t use and get them to go together.”

*

Tickets to a concert didn’t work. Grand getting kicked out for ruining the singer’s “artistic flow” was a feat Observation was still in awe of.

*

“Grand and Echo,” Gig mused, “Huh. I never thought of that before.” 

Observation wasn’t sure why he’d bothered. Someone who hadn't noticed Kent Brighton’s obvious crush on him probably would be the only person as oblivious as Grand and Echo themselves.

*

It was a pretty ordinary day that finally stopped Observation’s efforts to set up Echo and Grand. Grand had been running late that morning and Echo had bought his drink. They were at the counter, talking to Observation while they sprinkled Grand’s drink with his “perfect ratio” of cinnamon and nutmeg, when Grand finally arrived. Echo handed over the drink.

“Thanks, babe,” Grand said before giving Echo a kiss. Observation felt his jaw fall. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Wait! Since when do you two kiss?” Observation demanded.

“Since we started dating,” Grand grinned.

“But- But you told me you weren’t dating.”

“We weren’t back then, Echo said, "It really only started after you asked us about it. When I told you we weren’t dating I realized that I wished we were,” Echo wrapped their arm around Grand’s waist, “So I started trying to figure out if Grand liked me back and it turned out he did.”

“Oh,” Observation prompted smugly, “What made you realize that?”

“Sword practice,” the two answered simultaneously.

“Sword- Are you two for real with me right now? After I’ve been- Ugh! You two are literally the worst!”


End file.
